


Forces of Nature

by SDragon123



Category: Uncharted, inFAMOUS (Video Games)
Genre: Crossover, InfaCharted, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-21
Updated: 2018-01-11
Packaged: 2018-03-14 09:43:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3406022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SDragon123/pseuds/SDragon123
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, games, or plots of said games. Just having some fun with them. <br/>AN: this is my second attempt at a long term cross over story, but this time it’s with Cole and Nathan instead of Alex and Altair.<br/>WARNING: contains spoilers for Infamous 1 and some of 2 and all 3 Uncharted games, eventual blood and gore, strong language, and later strong sexual themes. This one will also be a HELL of a lot further from the cannon stories then ‘2 of a Kind’ was.  It’s a crossover fiction, so things will be weird regardless.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1: A Chance Meeting

Forces of Nature  
By: S-Dragon123

 

Chapter 1 – A Chance Meeting 

 

Istanbul, Turkey

 

“Sorry, no hard feelings mate,” Nathan Drake mocked in a fake British accent, mimicking his asshole of a ‘partner’. “Oh yeah?” he said switching back to his own voice, making his other hand into the shape of a gun, “click pesh pesh pesh! Ahhhhh!” Dropping his hand to his chest, the caged explorer made it spasm while he uttered a few more ‘dying noises’ before it went still. “Feh…” the brunette spat sitting up on his bed. The days had been going by so slow. He felt like he’s been locked up for months, when according to his chalk-tally-mark calendar, it had only been a few weeks. How he’d made it this long without losing his damn mind was a fucking miracle. The prison was hot, dirty, and smelt more like a zoo then a prison. He did his best to keep clean when he could, but for the most part that just meant cleaning his clothes, and sometimes his hair when it rained out. Least he had his own cell now. Sharing with another 7 full grown ass adults got down right unbearable. One of the guys got turfed to the crazy ward and 2 were transferred to different blocks, before Nate got moved himself. As to the specific reasons as to why he was given the small luxury of his own cell was unknown, but he wasn’t about to argue. Least he didn’t have to feel so self-conscious about jabbering to himself in the corner any more.   
Suddenly, he hears the door to the cell block open and a stream of Turkish words. Nate did not catch all of it, but he did hear the word ‘American’, which is what the guards called him, seeing as he was one of the only ones in the entire prison. He laid back out on his cot and pretended to be sleeping as he heard a duo of footsteps approaching his cell. They edged closer, slowing to a stop just outside the bars. The clanking of the keys reverberated off the walls as the guard unlocked the cell door and shuffled the individual inside. “Company for Mr. Drake,” he spat with a thick Turkish accent.  
Nathan only cracked an eyelid before giving a fake yawn and waving the guard off. The Turkish man only huffed before relocking the barred door and pacing away, leaving the two alone. Drake sat up and gave the newcomer a once over.   
A first glance, the man looked like a drifter. He was lean yet muscular, but his face looked thin, like he’d missed quite a few meals in the past month, maybe two? His inch-long hair was a dark, dirty blonde and mussed from lack of care. The clothing on his back was loose and tattered at the knees of the cargo pants. Rugged stubble dusted his jawline and upper lip and a lone, jagged scar was etched into his skin from his brow all the way down to his mouth. From the looks of the nice shiner on his cheek, Nathan could tell the guards were none too nice with him while he was booked, if one could call just being hauled in, ridded of their possessions, and locked up ‘booking’.  
The drifter had thin eyes, but a prominent brow and straight nose. He fixed Nathan with those narrow, almost neon blue eyes. They seemed to be searching the brunette’s face for something, but before Nate could even mentally inquire about it, the stranger broke the stare and passed to the other side of the cell.   
Sitting on the cold, stone floor next to what would now be his bed, he pulled his knees to his chest, folded his arms over the tops, and rested his head on them, giving a tired sigh.   
Nathan was unsure how to go about interacting with this character, but it was not for lack of trying. “Hey there…you speak any English?”  
The stranger’s head rose, his face colored with surprise – like surprised to hear someone speak clear ass English - before he nodded slightly.  
“What you get picked up for?” Drake probed further.  
No answer.  
“Must not be too bad if they stuck you here,” Nate drawled trying to get a conversation going. But the stranger only ducked his head back down to his arms. From his body language, Nathan could tell the newcomer was in no mood for small talk. Shame, he was actually looking forward to having someone to talk to other then himself.   
Silence once again dominated the small cell block, save for the stranger’s breathing, which had turned into a light snore. Guy must have been really exhausted.   
Soon, it was meal time, and like clockwork, the portions were delivered to each cell, but when the guards got to Drake’s cell, there was only one tray pushed though the slot. “Hey!” Nate called, “There’s two of us in here ya know!”   
“Sorry, we forgot,” one of the prison hacks sneered, “Looks like you are sharing with new friend.”  
Nate growled under his breath, flipping the guy off when his back was turned. Looking down at the tray of food – nothing more than then bread, brown rice, and a few steamed veggies - then to the still snoozing stranger, he sighed, knowing what he should do. He picked up the tray and paced over to the man. “Hey…wake up,” he whispered, “come on..” he coaxed further, shaking the stranger’s shoulder.   
“H-huh?!” the blonde’s head snapped up and he looked about with confused eyes.   
“Easy champ,” Nathan said, “it’s chow time. I know it don’t look like much, but it’s food.” The other looked at the tray of food then back up at that Nathan; his facial expression seemed to be asking if the explorer was really offering the whole plate to him. “I’m still full from earlier, go ahead. You look hungry.”  
Sitting up on the semi-soiled cot, the stranger took the tray, using his legs as a table, and dug in. Eating the bland sustenance with such gusto, Nathan was now sure the poor guy must have been starving his ass off.  
The man finished off the food before setting the empty tray on the floor. A belch echoed off the walls followed by a sigh of relief. “Thank you,” he said giving Nathan a nod.  
“Oh you do talk,” the brunette asked offering a half smile, “names Nathan, what’s yours?”  
The drifter was not as quick to answer, looking rather bashful before finally forcing out “I’m Cole. Thanks again, you didn’t have to…”  
“Well good to know ya Cole,” the explorer shrugged, “and don’t worry about it, seeing as we will be spending a good bit of time around each other in my humble little abode here, I figured a good first impression would be smart.”   
Cole couldn’t help the amused snort that arose in his throat, but other than that he was silent again. He drifted off into thought, staring off into space.  
Nathan didn’t speak any more either. It was strange, as badly as he wanted to talk to the man now that they knew each other’s names, just having another human being in the same room felt a tiny bit better than before. Sure being trusting to a complete stranger was illogical, but Drake knew how to read people, thanks to all those lessons from Sully, along with a few personal experiences. From what he could tell, Cole did not appear to be the hardened criminal type, and that was something Nate was totally fine with. He stretched out on his cot and settled down for the evening.  
With a yawn, the explorer rested his head on his arms and tried to lull off to sleep through the sounds of both the prison and the city outside.  
Cole stayed locked within his own head for a while longer, eyes tracing over the cell again, over the now snoozing brunette, and finally back over to the window carved into the opposite side of the bars. The moon was out now; full and gleaming in the dark reaches of the sky. He pondered where he was, what he’d done, what he could have done, and a sharp pain pierced his chest. The conduit’s throat tightened and he felt the rims of his eyes begin to burn with tears. Pulling his legs up to his chest, Cole shimmed himself back against the stone wall, resting his head on folded arms. Silent tears flowed over his wind raw face as he tried desperately to fade off into the nothingness of REM sleep. 

\-----------------

In the wee hours of the morning, just as the sun was peeking over the horizon, Nathan was awoken by Cole muttering in his sleep.   
“n-no…please…” the blond whined, “G-get away…”  
The explorer sat up, stretching out his arms before he stood and paced over to the other’s side, “Cole.” He said firmly.   
“D-don’t make me…” the conduit growled swatting at the other with a surprising amount of force.   
“Cole!” Nathan called a little louder, gently placing his hands on Cole’s shoulders, “Wake up man! Wake up!”  
“Ah! A-wha..?” Cole suddenly lurched up, eyes wide as dinner plates and darting every which way, his chest was heaving with rapid panting. Probably would have leapt into a full on Kung-Fu pose of Nathan did not have hold of his shoulders.   
“It’s okay Cole,” Nathan tried to sooth, patting the other man’s shoulders as if to show him he was awake now, “It was just a dream.”  
After a few heavy breathes, Cole finally calmed himself and readjusted to the waking world. “S-sorry if I woke you,” he said lowering his head.  
“Don’t be,” Nate offered dropping his arms with a sigh, “I still get nightmares from time to time too.”   
Cole gulped down the temporary lump that had formed in his throat, sitting up on the rusty cot, “What time is it?” he asked rubbing his forehead.  
“I don’t know, maybe 4 in the morning,” Drake said through a light yawn.  
“Shit…” Cole grumbled under his breath. There was no way he was falling back asleep now, not after the cruel tricks his mind played on him. He had to be out in the free world, so he could run. Just run. Even if it was from nothing but his own illusions, his mind couldn’t take being trapped in this little box with nothing but himself and all his shortcomings. “I- I can’t stay here…”  
“Well good luck cause escaping - or trying to anyway, will only get you in more trouble,” Nathan explained, thinking it a joke, sitting back on his own bed.  
“No,” Cole growled under his breath. “I’m getting out of here. Tonight. Join me if you want, just don’t get in the way.” His eyes fixed the explored in an all-too-serious glare, and he spoke with such propose.  
Now, as if he already didn’t already, this character only intrigued Nathan more, “How?” Was all the explored could ask out of habit.  
“Leave that to me,” Cole said, already feeling the plan start to materialize within the binds of his brain. “I had a backpack with me, and I need it. Once we’re out, we go our separate ways. You can go back to what ever crimes you were up to.”  
“Hey! I don’t commit crimes,” Nate said cocking his brow and crossing his arms.   
“Is what you do for a living illegal in any way, shape or form?” Cole drawled leaning back against the wall arms folded over his belly.  
“Well..uhhm yea, sort of…”  
“Then by definition, you’re a criminal,” Cole said rather matter-of-factly, “I don’t really care either way, we all got our ways of survival. I’m just being a smart ass.” The corners of his mouth perked up and he gave a few snickers of amusement.  
“Noted…” Nathan said mimicking the chuckle and scratching the back of his neck. Finally someone with a since of humor! He almost wanted to ask if the other would want to just follow him back to London with Sully. Of course when, ol’ Sullivan hears that he’d broken out of prison, again, he might not be too excited about Nate bringing along company. Especially if it was an odd ball drifter who Nathan had met in a Turkish prison. None of that made a lick of sense given how secretive their ‘profession’ was.   
The sun was a bit higher by now, fully up and over the land line in the distance. The guards would be bringing the morning chow around soon, so the pair dropped the subject of escape and began to talk about more general interests if anything, to pass time.  
Cole was apprehensive about opening up to Nathan about his past, so he let the brunette do most of the talking. The pair was still able to talk about various other things. For one, once they got into the subject of history, Nathan couldn’t shut up even if he wanted to. He went on one tangent after another, ranting about different world leaders, mystical structures erected of gold, and legends of secret cover ups by the Knight’s Templar. In all, Cole didn’t really mind if he couldn’t get a word in edgewise, he was more of a listener anyway. The blonde man had to admit that the other had a way with telling entertaining stories.  
Food was dropped off at the designated time, but the pair was so into their conversation that they barley paid the bland slop any mind. Of course, the smell got to Cole eventually and he ate while still listening to Nathan go on and on about Marco Polo and some lost fleet of ships.   
Morning faded into midday, and then into the darkening patches of evening. Cole had grown antsy, ready to make good on his plan. He didn’t know for sure how it was going to go, but he could make it up as he went along. Talking with Nathan all day had been a good distraction, but now that night had fallen, all of Cole’s nerves were so jumpy, he was sure he’d jump right out of his skin at the drop of a pin.  
The last meal for the day was passed out, and after the other inhabitants had their meal, silence filled the cell block until a buzzer sounded, followed immediately by the lights going out. The other prisoners, one by one, succumbed to sleep as darkness blanketed the prison. With a full moon out this night, an almost silver glow spilled in through the barred windows along the opposite wall.  
A lone sentry was on watch tonight, and like clockwork, he made a pass through the block only once every 20 minutes.  
“Okay,” Cole whispered, trying to keep his voice as low as possible, “once we get out of here...”  
“How are we going to do that by the way?” Nate interrupted with a cocked eye brow.   
“You’ll see,” Cole said sounding slightly annoyed “do you happen to know where they store personals they take off people. I was getting pummeled by the oh-so-pleasant welcoming committee, so I didn’t catch where they stashed my things.”  
“The office they had us in for booking,” Nate explained, “I saw them take my stuff into a backroom. Must be there.”  
“Then you show me where it is, and I’ll make sure to get us both out of this dump in one piece?” Cole offered his hand to the other, looking for his agreement.  
“Deal,” Drake said instantly taking hold of Cole’s hand and giving it a few shakes. Anything to get out of this hell hole.   
With that, Cole was ready to get this underway. “Close your eyes,” he said.  
“Huh?” Nate inquired cocking a brow.  
“Look, I can’t explain myself right now,” Cole groaned, “Long story, you don’t wanna hear. Now close your eyes.”  
“Fine,” Nate said covering the upper half of his face with his hands, “but trust me Cole, not a lot can shock me these days…”  
The conduit chose not to respond to the remark as he advanced to the cell door. Rubbing his fingers together, he gently placed them over the lock. He took a glance over his shoulder just to make sure the other was not peeking. Returning his attention forward, Cole focused his mind on the lock, coaxing out some of his reserved power. The buzzing static in his ears was a welcomed sound as a small bolt shot from his finger tips and into the lock. A few seconds later, the bolted door clanked open and gave way when Cole pushed slightly. “Come on,” he whispered pushing the metal cell exit open just enough to squeeze through.  
Nate lowered his hands and followed, closing the door behind him “How’d you-?”  
“Sh!” Cole hissed holding his index finger to his own mouth. He motioned with his eyes for Nate to take the lead.  
With a small nod, Nate strode past the other and into the cell block’s narrow hallway. He glanced both ways and strained his ears for the faintest hint of the on-duty guard. When he was sure the coast was clear, he looked at Cole before motioning with his eyes and head to follow.   
The brunette led them to the door that lead out of the cell block, but found it locked tight. “Can you open this one too?” the explorer whispered. Cole took a look at it. Defiantly a bigger and more secure lock then the one on the cell door. Would need quite a bit more power to unlock, not to mention it would be noisy.   
“Can, but only if you want the whole prison know somethin’s up,” the drifter respond with a grimace.   
“Ah crap…” Nathan groaned, “Okay, wait here, I’m going to go get the key off the guard.”  
“What?” Cole hissed, but before he could react further, Nathan turned and jogged off as fast as he could without making too must noise. The conduit growled to himself, but didn’t move from his spot.  
Nathan quickly caught up to the pacing guard, and with carefully placed footsteps, crept up behind the man. With a quite sigh to chill his nerves, the brunette quickly grabed the guy before slamming him against the wall with all his strength. Once force against the solid surface, Nate gripped the guard’s short, black hair before rearing the man’s head back and smashing it into the concreate. Out cold, but alive, Nathen gently lowered the man to the floor to minimize the noise before unclipping the ring of keys from his belt.  
Racing back to Cole, the explorer started testing them to find the match for the cell block door. The conduit was tapping his foot like an unnerved rabbit, “You didn’t just kill that guy did you?” he whispered.  
“No,” Nathan said “just…knocked him out real good. Got it!” he unlocked the exit and pushed the door open just enough to peek through.  
By some fucking miracle there were no guards in the main hallway. For now. With a wave of his hand, Nate ushered Cole along through the door and down the passage stone. “Thank god this place is shitty enough to not have a crap ton of cameras…” Nate muttered to himself as they came up on a desk that was behind a set of barred windows. Just beyond that was the booking office. “Through there,” the brunette said looking through the glass and pointing at the other entrance on the opposite end of the room.  
A sudden shout from behind startled both and upon spinning around, they discovered that they’d been caught by a small gaggle of more patrolmen. One as yelling at them in Turkish while the other two were aiming their pistols at them.   
“Crap…” Nathan growled holding his hands up in surrender. Why the hell did he trust that this was a good idea? This is what he got when he trusted strangers! He mentally kicked himself for letting his naiveté get the better of him, again.  
But Cole did nothing to show that he was about to give in. In fact he appeared soft of emboldened. With a smirk he looked at Nathan, “Don’t worry, I still got a bargain to hold up.” He took a single step forward so he was blocking the other from any possible assault, before holding his hands up. Summoning the last of his reserve power, a crackling sound filled the space around them all. Nathan felt all the hairs on his body stand on end and a low hum filled his ears before a sudden burst of light caused his arms to fold over his face in order to shield it.   
Cole formed the energy into a tight circle before pushing his hands forward, sending a hollow red wave of power rushing at the group of guards. The blast was so strong that it bashed the trio of watchmen into the solid bars behind them and even shattered the glass windows around the desk. When Nathan finally lowered his arms, Cole’s powers had faded and the blond dropped to his knee for a moment.   
“Damn it…” the conduit groaned panting slightly, “running on empty here. Let’s move.”  
With a slightly stunned nod Nathan reached through the bars and unlocked the door into the area behind the desk. Pushing it open, he paused to let Cole get back to his feet before they proceeded into the booking office.   
Cole knew his backpack was close, he could since the blast shard he’d stashed in there before leaving Empire City. “I think I can find it, just keep a look out,” he said.  
“Sure thing, just hurry, I’m pretty sure they know we’re out of our cages,” the brunette replied. He closed the door and his eyes trailed around the room for some kind of object to arm himself with. Just in case. Spotting a stun gun on the desk, he grabbed it and kept an eye out at the door way for more prison guards.   
The office was deserted of all the day workers by then, making the area dark, but Cole was able to find the small room where the officers stashed personal effects. His ‘third’ eye could almost see the sharp glowing in his bag on one of the many shelves stacked high with other items.   
Meanwhile, Nathan kept the stun gun ready as he saw two more guards round the corner and start to charge at him. Gulping, he did his best to aim the electro-gun right at the mild spacing between them. “Wait for it, wait for it…” the explorer murmured to himself before deciding they were close enough and pulling the trigger. The tiny capsule like needles sprang from the gun, nailing both guard on different points on their faces. Once in the chin and the other in the forehead. Thousands of volts railed threw the men till they dropped to the floor unconscious.   
Cole finally reappeared from the booking office, his backpack slung around his middle, “Whoa…lucky shot,” he chuckled taking note of the downed men.   
Drake dropped the stun gun with a sigh of relief, “Thanks…luck tends to follow me and only pop up at just the right moments. All the good karma’s gotta come from somewhere.”  
The reference to karma seemed to ring a little bell in the back of Cole’s head, and it brought up a few bad memories that still stung like a fresh cut. But he struck those from his mind and focused on the now. “Here, I got this for you,” the blond said handing over Nathan’s leather gun holster. Of course they had taken the guns and put them elsewhere, but Drake was just glad to have his custom holster back.  
“Oh wow, thanks!” the brunette thanked slipping it over his shoulders and shifting so it was a comfortable and snug fit. “Hard to find the ones that fit without buckling…” he quipped on a side note. “The exits have to be locked down by now, let’s check the roof.”  
Cole nodded and followed when the other started off in back the way they came.   
About half way back down the hall, Nathan stopped at an ash-grey door marked ‘Stairs’ in both English and Turkish. Since he still had the keys from before, he unlocked the door with no trouble and the pair began to traverse up the flights of steps.   
As they continued to climb, they were shortly followed by another group of watchmen. With Cole so low on power and Nathan completely unarmed, they could not stop and fight, favoring to only push themselves to run faster up the stairs. The anxiety of the chase seemed to make the flights stretch for miles, but they eventually made it to the roof.  
Bursting through the door, Cole slammed it shut behind them and used the last drop of his power to flash fuse the metal together with a tiny arch blast. He suddenly felt light headed, like he was going to faint, and he finally had to slump to his knees again to rest. He could since power in the lights overhead, but it was so little, it would not even be worth the effort. He needed more if they were going to make it out of this without getting recaptured. Looks like he was to have to use his blast shard. He had been saving it for an emergency, and this seemed like a perfect scenario to fit the bill.   
“You okay?” Nathan asked, worry dripping from his tone, “Get up Cole! We’re almost there!” He quickly grabbed the other and hauled him up onto his feet again.   
With a groan, the conduit fought to stay up, but his was just so weak that he only turned into dead weight and fell again, bringing Nathan with him.  
“M-My bag…the rock in my bag,” Cole managed to say.   
“okay, get the rock,” Nathan coached to himself shifting behind the conduit and unzipping his bag. Sure enough, under a few clothes, was a bright, glowing blue rock. “Got it! Here,” the explorer said shoving the stone into the other’s hands.  
Cole felt the energy from the blast sharp seem into his cells before he even started to pull it out. Focusing on the stone in his hands, Cole let the power flow into his body, crackling and sparking the excess off onto the roof. It was like a breath of fresh air, giving Cole the energy to stand back up. “Okay, I’m good. Thanks!” he said offering a genuine smile to the other.  
Nathan returned it and looked out over the lay of the land, “Not there’s the subject of getting down from here.” He spotted some power lines that he could have easily zipped down if he had a pistol.   
Cole must have noticed the same lines because he looked at Nathan with a straight face and said, “Get on my back. Piggy back style.”  
“H-huh?” Nate asked taken slightly aback.  
“Like I said, I’ll explain later,” Cole said pacing to the side of the building so his feet were right over where the line of wire connected to the adaptor on the roof.   
A loud, continuous banging on the roof’s door reminded Nathan to just listen and go with it so he nodded and some what awkwardly step up behind Cole, looping his arms around his shoulders.   
When the other was not moving as quickly as he liked, Cole only rolled his eyes before reaching down and hooking Nathan’s legs over his arms and rearing him up onto the blonde’s back. Before Drake could even protest, the conduit took a step forward and began to literally grind down the power line like he was on a skateboard. The red sparks that shot off from under his shoes and looped around his arms did nothing to effect Nathan as they bounced and curled about around him. The brunette was mesmerized by the sheer power that dwelled within this individual and the things he was capable of. So much so that he did not register that Cole was about to leap off the wire, and when he did, Nate about fell off his back. But the conduit was keeping a tight hold on him and did not allow him to become dislodged. The jump had pole vaulted them up over the outer wall and barbwire fence, Cole having gained enough air to clear both. The conduit braced his legs to take on the force of their touchdown, wanting to take the pounding if he screwed up and sent them flying.  
Landing on the opposite side of the prison’s heavily barbed fence, Cole kept his feet planted into the graveled earth as he slid them to a stop, trying to keep them both up right.  
Unfortunately, thanks to a stray stick, MacGrath tripped and sent them tumbling over the semi-steep embankment anyway.  
Both men grunted upon landing at the bottom, Cole landing first, with Nathan toppling on top of him. Despite the rough landing Nathan was so hyped on the adrenaline that he leapt up whooping and hollering like an idiot from his excitement, leaving the other stunned this time.   
“Holy crap that was so freaking awesome!!!” the explorer yelled practically bouncing in place like a miniature dog. “How did you do all that? Does it hurt then you do it? How did you get like this?” the questions were flying out faster then Nate could really stop them.   
Cole groaned in discomfort before pushing himself back up onto his feet, “Settle down man, we’re still not out of the woods yet.” He started to brush off the dirt and loose grass that had stuck to him during their little tumble when they both heard the sirens start to sound around the prison coupled with angry shouting and barking dogs. “Aaaand that’s our cue to get the fuck out of here,” he added before he turned and ran. He didn’t care which way he was going, he just wanted to get the hell away from that prison as fast as possible.   
Nathan cleared his throat and bolted to catch up, “Yea…uh sorry.”   
“No worries,” Cole assured as they ran.   
Since the prison was located in the outskirts of Istanbul, Nathan advised they get back into town, reasoning that it would be easier to hide amongst the clutter of people versus trying to make a go of it in the unknown of the wilderness beyond the city’s limits.   
Once back in the heart of the city, Nathan took the lead again seeking out a nice, low key place to collect their bearings before acting further. The roof of a local apartment complex sufficed for the time being.  
“Okay,” Nathan began through an exhausted sigh as he sat on a wooden shipping box, “now that we don’t have the Turkish Johnny Law breathing down our necks. Shall we discuss what’s to happen next?”   
Cole flopped down next to the same crate, leaning against it just to the other’s right, “Sure,” he sounded just as worn out, “we’re out of there. I held up my end of the deal. I guess now we part ways.”  
“Well don’t you want help at least getting out of the country,” Nathan offered, “I can make a few phone calls and have a friend here with a plane by mid-morning, and we are both now heavy wanted felons here.”   
“I think I’ll manage on my own,” Cole said rather sternly, “most if not all of this part of world is connected by metal railroads and it they’re electric, then it’s like riding a generator.”  
“Look man you helped me more then I helped you,” Nathan said, “sure I showed where to find your backpack, but you busted me out of a literal hell on earth.”   
“Surely your friend with the plane could have gotten you out,” Cole countered cocking his brow.  
“Yea, but I would have still been sitting in that cell for months, and now I don’t have to,” Nathan shot back, “Come on, what you have to lose?”  
At that, Cole was stumped. He’d already lost well everything. What more could he loose other than the clothing on his back? “This is so fucking crazy…” was all he could say at the end of a few moments.  
“No, what’s crazy is that fact you can unlock prison cells, shoot lighting from your hands like freakin’ Zeus, oh, and you can grind on power cables like Tony Hawke,” Nathan said, “And I’ve seen lots of crazy shit my friend.”  
“Shit…” Cole said before running his hands over his face, “Fine, get me out of this shithole, I don’t even know why I’m in, and we’re even.”  
Nathan chuckled and stood, “Good, now let’s find a payphone so I can get us out of here.”


	2. London Heights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now out of prison, Nathan and Cole meet with Sully, Nathan's old friend, for some much needed R&R before forging an alliance and plan to retrieve the Marco Polo Journals from Flynn and Lazaravich.

Chapter 2: London Heights

AN: This chapter contains spoilers for most of Infamous 1. It’s not the complete story to InF1, but I condensed and altered the major events of Cole’s story to better fit my fiction’s plot. It’s also been almost a year since I’ve circled back into actually playing Infamous so I’m rusty on the game’s details as is.

 

London, England

 

The flight from Turkey to England had been much smoother than expected. Hell the most difficult part was finding a way to get to the local airstrip without getting spotted by the authorities. But Cole and Nathan were able to make in and meet up with the brunette’s lifelong friend, Victor Sullivan, or Sully for short.  
Of course their first meeting was slightly awkward seeing as Nate neglected to inform Sully that he would have company tagging along for the ride. Not to mention Cole was still in a state of being extremely nervous around new faces. But once in the air, Nathan took a moment to talk to Sully alone about Cole’s powers while the other had taken to sleeping off his exhaustion for the majority of the trip. The elder explorer became intrigued by this and did not protest the issue of their temporary companion any further.  
“You think he could be an asset don’t you?”  
“I already know Sully,” Nathan assured his partner with that usual, cocky smirk.  
“He seems pretty shy,” the silver haired man observed.  
“Relax, he just needs someone he can trust,” Nate guaranteed “just like us…”  
Once they had landed in London, they took shelter at a low key hotel that Sully had already made arrangements at before he left to get them. Nathan took a much needed shower, and shaved off all his excess stubble, taking a satisfied look at himself in the mirror once he was done.  
Cole on the other hand was more apprehensive about cleaning himself up, making him have to admit that unremitting contact with water tended to have relatively painful effects on him. But it didn’t stop the blonde from fighting it in order to scrub off the past few weeks’ worth of filth that had layered onto his skin.  
By then, it was late evening and Cole immediately took to the hotel’s roof once he was revitalized, his eyes curious to take in the marvelous lights and new sounds of London. He let himself get lost in thought as the sun’s golden glow seeped further and further away over the horizon. Pondering his current situation. Wondering if following Nathan was a good idea. Was the brunette going to try to use him – or rather, his powers - for something? Was he going to get turned over to the government in exchange for some kind of reward for capturing the Demon of Empire City? Was Drake even aware that Cole WAS the Demon of Empire City?  
“Hey, I knew I’d find you up here,” Nathan’s voice from behind him brought Cole back from his mental abyss of personal interrogations.  
“H-huh?” Cole gasped, but hastily relaxed again when he saw it was Nathan who had snuck up on him. “Oh…yea I like roof tops,” he said casually as if to cover up his surprise from the moment before.  
“The view up here is killer isn’t it?” Nathan offered pretending not to notice before panning his own eyes around them. “So…now that we’re out of Turkey, I guess you’ll be on your way huh?” the brunette asked suddenly.  
“Damn you do not beat around the bush Drake,” Cole replied with a chuckle and cocking an auburn brow, “If you want to get rid of me that badly then I’ll be up and out within the hour.”  
“I didn’t mean it like that…” Nate said crossing his arms over his chest, “besides, you were the one who was so hell bent on going all loner wolf again.” He waved his arm in a horizontal motion, hand gesturing at the city scape, “London is a good place to disappear into.”  
Cole snickered again before going quite, he turned his face to take in the ceasing sunbeams, his expression unreadable for a moment. “The question is…where to go from here?” he said. “I don’t even know where I belong anymore, ya’know.”  
“Seems better to have had a home then to never have had one…” Nate offered.  
“Maybe,” Cole replied, “…these past few months have seemed like just one big, fucked up dream.”  
“Look I know it’s really none of my business, but how did you even end up in Turkey in the first place?” the brunette asked more so out of curiosity.  
“I don’t like thinking about it much less talking about it…” Cole wrinkled his nose at the thought.  
“As I recall, you said you would explain yourself once we busted out of the prison,” Drake pointed out not really trying to hide the smug look in his eyes.  
“Touché…” the conduit drawled rubbing his hands over his face as if to prep himself for what he was about to say, “It’s a really long story.”  
“I don’t have a real job Cole, remember? I got time,” Nathan chuckled taking a mock look at his watch.  
“Then we should get back inside,” Cole said, “You can use the stairs, I’m getting back in through the window.”  
“Oh please,” Nathan chided with a roll of his eyes, “how do you think I got up here?”  
Cole laughed out loud before turning and shimmying down over the edge of the building that led down into the ally between the two structures so they would not be seen by the crowds below. With Nathan only a few steps behind, Cole hastily, yet carefully, scaled down to the floor their room was on, before side stepping over the window ledges toward his window.  
“I didn’t know you were so into your parkour,” Nathan remarked staying close behind.  
“Yeah, taught myself during my summers down in New Marais, Louisiana. Me and my…well ex- best friend, Zeke, would go there to party and once I had tried it, I never went back,” Cole explained.  
“There’s nothing to it but to do it,” Nathan snickered, but it was cut short when he took a shallow step and lost his grip on the wall. “Whoa!!”  
“Gottcha!” Cole acted quickly, grasping onto the brunette’s shirt, keeping Nate’s one foot planted against the thin window sill. The rest of him was dangling by the other’s fingers over a good 50 foot drop.  
Nathan’s chest was heaving in his momentary panic, looking down at the drop that could have just killed him. “T-thanks…” he muttered slightly embarrassed that he had made such a rookie mistake after making such a snide remark about his skills as a climber.  
“Looks like that time in prison made you a bit rusty,” Cole teased with a smirk, pulling the other up so he could reclaim his poise.  
The pair finally ducked in through the window, passing into the living area of the suite before taking a seat in one of the few armchairs that occupied the room.  
Sully was reading a newspaper on the loveseat, only looking up long enough to acknowledge their presence before he went back to reading.  
“Okay…where do you want me to start?” Cole asked.  
“How about the beginning…?” Nathan replied shrugging his shoulders.  
“Right…from the beginning,” the blond sighed, “here we go…”

\--------------------------------------

 

Cole began his tale at the start of all his misfortune. The Blast. Explaining how it had just been another day at work when the deadly package fell into his position. Going on in detail about how Empire City fell to pieces and became a gang hub for the Reapers. Rioting broke out, and the government was heavily enforcing the martial law that had come over the remaining residents of the city. Not to mention the infections and sickness that ran ramped, calling for a city wide quarantine.  
Cole had done what he could for the greater good in the beginning, but because of how the media had portrayed him, people treated him with fear, hate, and anger. They would throw rocks at him, call him names, and even try to run him over with their cars while he was out trying to help around the city.  
As he became more and more distant, it took a toll on his relationships with both his wife Trish, and Zeke. Trish had taken to helping the injured with her skills as a medic, but soon people caught onto the fact she was Cole’s wife, and began to treat her with the same disrespects. This angered the conduit more than anything, and he began to lash out at people when they so much as looked at him wrong.  
“All they wanted to see was my bad side,” he said when it came down to it, “So I gave it to them.  
He started a damn turf war with the Reapers and the Military, raided safe places for supplies, and even started ignoring the few cries for help from those who were laying hurt in the street.  
Trish did not like the person he was becoming, and even Zeke had to talk Cole out some crazy stunts that would only make how the public saw him worse. But through all that Cole continued to make a villain out of himself, and that only deteriorated further when Kessler showed up.  
From there, some of Cole’s memories were fuzzy, but he knew that Kessler did everything in his power to destroy what little was left of the conduit’s humanity.  
In the end, the man ended up killing Trish right in front of Cole, and even turned Zeke against him, tricking him into letting Alden get loose and causing more problems than the conduit was prepared to deal with.  
Vowing revenge, Cole sought out Kessler and they battled, almost leveling what was left of the Historic District. They wore each other to the bone before Cole successfully over powered him by literally thunder dropping Kessler into the ground and delivering the strongest shock wave he could muster.  
Exhausted and powers running on just fumes, the blonde was unable to stop Kessler from delivering a final message before dying. The message that he was Cole from the future and the answer to why he was there in the first place. Of course, Cole kept those details to himself, but ended his story with “I don’t remember exactly how, but I got away, and ever since I’ve just been…wondering around. Not really going anywhere or looking for anything.”  
By this point, Nathan was on the edge of his seat. Damn, and he thought he’d seen some crazy things back in South America when he and Elena were trying to escape the cursed cavern and it’s vampire like demons in order to stop Roman. “Whoa…” he marveled, “That’s the most you’ve said since we met.”  
Cole chuckled at the look of amazement on the other’s face, Drake had such a different way of viewing things that were, well odd. “Most I’ve talked since I left the states.” The blond folded his arms over his stomach and settled back into arm chair, “Thanks…”  
“For what?” the brunette enquired looking a bit confused  
“For listening, and treating me normally,” Cole said, “You’re the first person to not take one look at my powers and just run.”  
“A guy that can shoot lighting from his hands seems pretty tame compared to those freaks you had to deal with when looking for Francis Drake’s treasure,” Sully commented from the couch.  
“Yea well life takes us all on wide rides from time to time,” Nathan rebutted before a loud growl forced its way into the conversation.  
Both Nate and Sully looked at each other in question before turning their gazes to Cole, who grimaced and laughed nervously, rubbing his stomach.  
“Looks like its dinner time,” Sully laughed before folding his newspaper and setting it aside. “I’ll call up some room service.” The older man stood and passed over to the phone.  
Not much time later, there was a knock on the door and a bellboy wheeled in a cart with three covered dishes on it. Sully signed for the bill, tipped, and dismissed the young man with a polite ‘Thank you’.  
Cole was nearly floored by the kindness of such a good meal, and ate without pause till his plate was clean. Nathan was just as hungry for real food, and the steak dinner was quite a welcomed respite from the nasty slop he was being fed while in prison.  
After their dinner, Sully went off to bed, while Cole and Nathan took to watching TV in the living area.  
“Ya know I remember hearing about that explosion in the states a few months ago,” Nathan remarked flipping through the channels, “Though, it explains why I thought your name sounded so familiar.”  
“You don’t watch the news?” Cole asked, “I’m surprised they’re not covering it anymore. Things must have calmed down without me fucking shit up, so the media moved on.”  
“I catch it from time to time, but for the most part, no. Hell I’m never in the same place for very long so unless I’m right in the middle of it, I never hear about shit till weeks later,” Nate clarified.  
“Well it was pretty big, I mean I shut down an entire city,” the conduit mock bragged.  
“Yea well I found an ancient, cursed, solid gold coffin, that that a crazed drug lord was going to sell on the black market. Stopped him, and sunk the thing into the ocean so no would ever be cursed again. And that didn’t even make the news!” the explorer countered.  
“Sounds like the plot of an Indian Jones rip-off action movie,” the blonde observed.  
“Feh, Indiana wishes he had the adventures I’ve had,” Nate chuckled to himself.  
Both laughed before they went back to watching and chatting about what was on TV. After about an hour Cole retired to his bedroom, threw off his worn dark yellow t-shirt and flopped down on the bed. The conduit hadn’t slept in an actual bed in weeks and the sheer comfort made him sigh in relief. His breathing turned to soring in a matter of minutes  
Nathan followed suit, turning off the television and retreating into his own room for the night. He changed into a pair of pajama pants that Sully had brought for him - along with a few more clean sets of clothes – before crawling into bed, relaxing against the plush mattress. “Beats that shitty cot all day long…” he muttered to himself, pulling the thick comforter over his body and settling his head into the pillow. 

 

\--------------------------

The next morning, Nathan awoke early to the sounds of rustling in the living room. Curious as always, he got up and went to investigate.  
The noises were just Cole, who had been up for a while from the looks of it. He was fully dressed and his backpack was slung around his torso as if Drake had caught him as he was ready to leave.  
“Going somewhere?” Nate asked a bit dumbfounded.  
“You and your friend don’t need me around being a moocher,” Cole replied coolly, “Thanks for everything though…good luck.”  
Cole then made a move toward the door, but Nathan stopped him, “Wait! Cole you’re not being a moocher,” he tried to reason, “You’re not a burden at all. I’m sorry if me or Sully said something that made you feel like that, but -”  
“You seem like a good person Nathan…” the conduit cut him off before looking down at his own hands and then back up at the brunette, “I don’t want to fuck that up. Good bye.”  
Nathan moved to stand in front of Cole, making himself a barricade between the other and the exit. At that Cole grew slightly annoyed, “Come on man! Why are you trying to keep me around?”  
“Because we need your help!” Nathan blurted out before he could stop himself. He winced as if he knew that had come out not the way he wanted.  
“So you were planning on using me for something…” Cole growled, narrowing his eyes in an accusing glare. Typical humans…  
“No!” the brunette said waving his hands in the air, “No I wasn’t going to use you, or your powers! I was going to ask you for your help, but just wanted to talk it over with Sully first.”  
“Then if you’re asking now, my answer is still no,” the blonde said.  
“Then what are you going to do?” Nate presented, “wonder around London till you get picked up for not having a passport or even an ID? I’m willing to bet money that’s how you ended up in that Istanbul prison.”  
Cole’s silence and adverted glare spoke volumes.  
“I know we just met, and yes I know this whole short-lived ordeal has been bat-shit crazy,” Nathan persisted, “but look at what we were able to do! We broke out of a freaking Turkish prison and then fled the damn country like it was nothing! I guess what I’m trying to say is, is that we make a pretty badass duo. Besides, you’re not the only one with trust issues. I’ve been fucked over by pretty much everyone I’ve ever worked with except Sully!” The explorer was talking with his hands, whipping them about as he spoke, before he dropped them to his sides at the end of his little rant.  
“You sound like Zeke…” Cole growled, still not looking at the other. But also like Zeke, Nathan was speaking to the blonde as a person, not just as a freak of nature. Like Zeke, Nathan didn’t see the powers, he trying to see the man that Cole was. And that, had to mean something. His eyes slipped shut as he pondered his options. Rough it as a lone drifter even if he wasn’t much of a traveler, or go along with someone who was willing to give him a chance to get his ability to trust people back? ‘What do I have to lose? I’ve already lost everything…’ the conduit thought.  
Nathan grew nervous as Cole stayed in silent thought for a few moments.  
Cole then sighed, opening his eyes again before removing his bag from his shoulders and dropping it to the side. “So, what’s the plane, Indiana Jones?” he finally said offering his hand.  
The brunette could not help the smile that split his face as he took the conduit’s hand and shook it. “My turn to tell you a story…” Nate said with a snide looking smirk.

Later that morning, Sully emerged from his own bedroom, hair still sleep mussed “Glad to see you two are still getting along.” He went into the miniature kitchen and poured himself some coffee.  
“Well good news Sul,” Nathan called back as he shifted some of the papers he’d gotten out during his little briefing, “Cole’s on board.”  
“I’ll try to pay for my own things though Mr. Sullivan,” the blonde added as Sully ventured back into the room, a steaming mug in his hand.  
“Don’t worry yourself kid,” the elder explorer assured pacing over and patting the conduit’s shoulder. “You just do your thing, and I’ll do mine. Oh and just ‘Sully’ is fine.”  
“How soon can we even get to Borneo?” Nathan asked.  
“Given that I only paid for one more night here, sooner rather than later,” Sullivan said before sipping his coffee. “Oh and one more thing, your old friend Chloe will be meeting us there.”  
“What!?” Nathan yelped jumping up out of his chair, “Sul!! She fucked me over just as bad as Flynn did! When did you even get in contact with her?!”  
“Literally an hour after you phoned me about being picked up in Istanbul,” Sully answered bluntly, “And she told me she wanted to explain herself to you in person.”  
Nathan rubbed his face in frustration, groaning his annoyance as he plopped back down in his seat, “Craaaaap…”  
Cole cocked a questioning brow at Sully, “I take it this chick is bad news?”  
“Hell and yes…” Nathan replied instantly, “It’s because of her and that bastard Harry Flynn that I ended up in jail. To be honest if she was here, I would rather be back in that shithole cell.”  
“Relax Nathan,” Sully chided, “I didn’t tell her anything other than that I would be getting you out of jail soon. Now that I don’t have to grease any palms, I was able to return some of my loans and keep what little travel capital we’ve got left.”  
“So she thinks I’m still in prison?”  
“Yes…”  
“Thank god… Jesus Christ Sully you about gave me a damn heart attack,” Nathan sighed pinching the bridge of his nose. “We’ve got to have a plan before we leave then. This has to be a trick of some kind.”  
“What can one person do?” Cole asked.  
“It’s not just her,” Nathan replied, “She’s working with Flynn for Lazaravich. The guy I told you about earlier.”  
“Seems more like an asshole more and more…” Cole sneered.  
“Trust me, calling him an asshole is putting mildly,” Nathan felt the bile rise in his stomach at just thinking of Lazaravich. “Guy would put a bullet in your head just for looking at him wrong.”  
Cole winced a little at the memory of displaying similar behaviors, but figured that he was trying to change, and should not lump himself with such people. He lent against the table, looking over the map and files Nathan had laid out. “So what exactly are we looking for again? Some kind of journals?”  
“Yes. Marco Polo’s writings about where to find the next clue to this special object called the Chintamani Stone,” the explorer elaborated pointing to a set of drawings in his little sketchbook.  
“Is it like a rare form of diamond or something?” Cole asked looking at the little yet super clean ink pictures. “You draw this?”  
“Yea, just for the sake of taking notes…” Nathan said, “I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember, and after nearly thirty years, it shows.”  
“I can’t even draw a straight fucking line, let alone something this good,” Cole marveled as Nathan flipped to the next page.  
“This is what we need as well, but I got a feeling once we meet up with Chloe, she’ll have it on her,” the brunette continued tapping his drawing of an ancient looking relic, “This is the Chintamani Dagger. It acts kind of like a key to most of these puzzles we’ve been encountering.”  
“Again, this all sounds like a plot to some Indiana Johns movie that was never made…” Cole snickered, “The more and more you tell me, the more and more I’m thinking it. So what next, after we get these journals I mean?”  
“That’s the thing, the journals are what will tell us what to do, or rather, where to go, next,” Nathan answered.  
Sully had been watching their interactions from the breezeway into the kitchen, quietly sipping at his coffee. He had a damn near supernatural skill of reading people, which was something Nathan was slowly but surely gaining as well, and it was telling him that Cole was defiantly one in a billion. The conduit’s subtle mannerisms were relaxed, telling Sullivan that MacGrath was at ease when around them, or at least Nathan. Cole was also keeping casual eye contact, something a dishonest character could not do even if they were aware they were not doing it. Part raw experience and part self-psychology lessons were giving Sully lots of reasons to put more trust in Cole instead of Chloe.  
As the day went on, Cole and Nathan discussed their plan more and more over lunch, with Sully chiming in when needed. So far, the plan was to land in Borneo, gather some supplies for trekking in the rain forests of the north which would put them somewhere in Malaysia. Then meet up with Chloe one way or another so she could get them to where Lazaravich had set up his main place of operation. Ironing out the details and such would have to be improvised later, but for the most part, they were able to flesh out a good strategy that would be simple and easy if everything went smoothly. But given Drake’s track record with things going just the opposite of that, he began to think up an exit tactic in the back of his mind, just in case.  
Evening had fallen by the time the trio finally adjourned, satisfied with the plot and Nathan began to scoop up the papers, filing them away neatly in Sully’s leather satchel. After spending the whole day planning everything out, he also advised that they all get plenty of sleep so they were fully focused on the task at hand. Cole did not argue as he stood and stretched his arms, legs and back, a secession of popping noises accompanying the action.  
After another meal from room service, Nathan and Sully retired to their rooms for the night, but Cole used the moment of privacy to sneak back out of the suite and up to the roof. The night air had become chillier in the later hour making the blonde have to throw on his jacket beforehand.  
As the conduit over looked the glistening city lights from his London heights perch he tried to reason what he was getting himself into. As much time as he spent talking about his own origins, he still didn’t know that much about Nathan or Sully. For all he knew they could still just be doing a really good job of leading him on. The paranoia griped Cole’s gut and he swallowed the lump in his throat before forcing the thoughts away by trying to focus on doing his part over the next few days. “How can I be for sure of anything anymore…” the blonde’s murmur blended with the breeze and faded as it left his mouth.  
After a moment of deep breathing, Cole was finally able to settle himself before deciding to climb back down to his window.  
Once inside, he carefully shut the opening to avoid a loud noise, before locking the bolt and closing the blinds. The room was still filled with the blueish, yellow glow of the street lights and signs outside as the conduit threw off his jacket, shirt and cargo pants. Pulling the covers back, he slipped into bed and did his best to dose off and not dream as he slept.


	3. Packing True Heat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With some help from Chloe; Cole, Nathan and Sully infiltrate Lazarivich's camp. But Chloe might have helped a bit too much..... 
> 
> AN: from here onward the cannon plots are gone! The story is now in full on headcannon mode! Shit’s about to get crazy!! Also, Thanks so much for your patience. Life has been getting in the way of both my art and writng so thanks so much for baring with me! I'm not giving up on this story and I promise there is more to come!

Chapter 3: Packing True Heat

 

Borneo 

 

The jungle was so loud at night Cole finally concluded as he shifted in his hammock and stared out of the mosquito net, over the towering vegetation around their camp at the shimmering night sky. The sheer beauty of the sight made a lot of the past few days totally worth it. With no clouds around for the moment, he could see every little star and even the large glimmering rope that was the rest of the galaxy beyond the outer reaches of the solar system.  
The trip from London was even easier than the one from Turkey, allowing for the trio to rest further before arriving in a small city just outside the jungle. The place looked horrid, and looked more like a war-zone rather than a town. But thanks to Cole’s powers and plenty of fuse boxes to drain, they were able to make it all the way through and into the wild great stretch of green. Beforehand that had been able to finally meet up with Nathan’s old contact, Chloe Frazer, and Cole had an instant dislike of her. Disseat was something he was not fond of these days and he made sure to not let the women leave his sight for longer than a few moments at a time. After spending the rest of the day traveling deeper and deeper into the bush they had finally settled at a small base camp for hikers in the area.  
Nathan, who was snoring away in an adjacent hammock, had outlined a plan for tracking down and attacking Lazaravich’s camp which included Chloe planting plenty of C4 charges while Nathan snuck in and swiped the journals. Sully was to act as look out while Cole agreed to stick by Nate’s side and act as cover if they turned the espionage plan into a battle plan.  
Cole drifted in and out of a light sleep for the rest of the night till he noticed the sun start to lighten the sky. With a yawn, he forced himself to get up and stretch out his muscles and joints. He slipped on his shoes, checking them for bugs first, before he paced off to the side of the camp to answer the call to nature.  
After his quick ‘restroom’ break, the conduit crept back to his hammock, but as he settled back into the hanging bed, Nathan spoke up, “Where you able to sleep at all?” he whispered over the hum of the overly active morning insects.  
“A little…” the blond groaned in reply, “you sure about this…?” he asked suddenly  
Drake yawned before rubbing his face, “Of course I am,” he said giving Cole a groggy half smirk “I’ve come this far, and I’m not about to second guess myself now.” The brunette’s confident attitude was assuring giving Cole that moral boost to keep on going.  
Nathan woke Sully and Chloe before the small group gathered their belongings and left the camp. Hours went by of hiking through the humid and soggy terrain, till they reached a fork by a river. “The camp is up this way,” Chloe announced pointing up the elevated trail. “I’ll go ahead and plant the charges then radio you when they’re in place.” Nate and Sully gave her a nod before she turned and bound off.  
Cole took the momentary break to actually look around at the green forest around him. “I’ve only ever seen a rain forest on TV,” he said as a pair of birds flew into the sky from a high branch of the canopy.  
“You should see South America, the Amazon is amazing,” Sully added as he double checked his magnum revolver to keep it at the ready.  
“I’m not much of a traveler…” Cole admitted with a shrug, “but since I’m technically on the run, I guess I’m gonna have to get used to it.”  
“It’s easy once you get the hang of it,” Nathan chuckled taking out his little note book and looking over his notes.  
After about half an hour, Chloe’s voice came on over their radios “Alright guys, the charges are set, the first one is right up ahead of you. I also left the detonator.” As they traversed the trail to follow her lead, Cole gulped at the sight of the knee to waist deep water.  
“I’m sticking to the higher rocks and the trees,” He said scaling an adjacent tree and leaping like a squirrel to the next one. “I could set off the charges if I get to close to them, but I can sense them. I’ll point them out.” he offered tip toeing across the branches and vaulting a second time to a small ledge of rock.  
“Roger that,” Nathan said giving the blonde a nod and gave him a thumbs up in agreement from below. As Frazer had mentioned, the first charge was only a short ways up the trail. The two men had to tread water to reach it, not that it bothered them to get a little wet, but now under stood Cole’s concern. Sully picked up the detonator and chuckled, eyeing the big yellow button in the middle. “Hey,” Nate said “Don’t…touch the button.” He wagged his finger at his friend and cocked his brow.  
“What? This button?” Sully teased back hovering his finger over said switch.  
Nathan just rolled his eyes and pressed on. “Cole, we got the first one, where to next?”  
“Keep to the left,” came the conduit’s voice over the radio. He was whispering, not a good sign. “Company…” he said simply before there was a grunt and a solid thud. “Got one…go now before his buddies catch on.” Gesturing to Sully for him to fallow, Nathan made his way further up the trail, spotting Cole on a branch not too much further ahead. The first ledge was fairly high so the brunette made a saddle stirrup with his hands.  
“Climb up there gorgeous,” he teased.  
“Why thank you kid,” Sully drawled sarcastically before fitting his foot in Nate’s palms. With a mild rumble of exhaustion, the younger man hoisted his partner up allowing him to gain his bearings so he could climb the rest of the way up. “Alright, give me your hand,” Sully said turning and reaching over the side. Nathan nodded before jumping up and grabbing the man’s hand, pulling himself the rest of the way up.  
The rest of the way was easy. Nathan was able to sneak up behind both of the other guards thanks to Cole toppling over some rocks to distract them. Snapping their necks for good measure. From there, the blond directed them to the next set of charges that were planted along the rock face. Nathan knelt and set one while Sully set the other.  
“There’s a camp up ahead,” Cole said over the radio, “Lots more guards. I’d take them out, but the place is fully rigged with those charges.”  
“Wait there then,” Nathan advised looking up at the conduit, “What can you see up there by the way.”  
“Lots of boxes…tools…Wait, someone’s coming into the camp from the back. All the guards are gathering around the tent,” Cole said before there was a pause and Nate saw Cole sneak onto a closer stub of stone to get a better look. “I think it’s that Lazaravich guy, your so called friends are down there too…Whoa! He just stabbed one of his own guys! Be careful…” The blonde’s tone was heavy with worry.  
“We will,” Nathan replied after he cringed a bit at what Cole had seen, “Tell us when he’s gone.”  
Cole crotched low and stayed as still as possible to avoid detection, waiting like a jumpy rabbit for the outlaw warlord to finish his scary speech before he left in a huff with Flynn and Chloe in tow. “Okay, you’re good…guy looked super pissed.”  
“Yeah because he just let Flynn piss away 3 months for nothing,” Nathan insulted with a snide chuckle before Sully and he pressed on. The brunette helped his older friend up onto another high ledge allowing for him to keep watch as Nathan snuck into the camp. He kept his pistol at the ready as he carefully snuck up behind the first guard in his sights. With clean swiftness, the explorer grabbed the man around the neck and yanked hard, hearing that confirming snap again. Lowering the man to the ground as quietly as he could, Nathan took inventory of the remaining sentries. “Crap…” he muttered taking cover behind an ammo create.  
A bolt of lightning suddenly pelted three of the five men, dropping them instantly into twitching messes. The disruption caught the attention of the other two and when they ventured out into the open Sully tagged them with the sniper rifle he had found in one of the creates that was stored on the ledge. “You’re in the clear kid,” Sully confirmed over the radio.  
“Thanks,” Nathan replied to them both before he pressed further onward. Stepping carefully over the dispatched guards, the explorer crept up into the shaded tent, eyes grouping around for a place Lazaravich would have likely stashed the old documents. After a few moments of poking around, he hit pay dirt! “Wow…” the brunette marveled, not being able to help himself from leaving through the age worn books. “Time to move along,” he commented to himself before he turned to leave.  
Sully was relieved to see his friend step out of the tent with the journals in hand, watching him wave and grin like a moron through his scope. “Well done Nate! Come on back then and we’ll get out of this bug-infested-green-inferno.”  
Nathan nodded but before he could make a run for it, he heard a voice behind him, multiple ones. Shit! Someone was coming back. Making a break for it, Drake was able to make it to the far side of the camp before he was spotted at the last second as he leapt over the last log that laid in his way. “Someone’s here!! shoot him!” one cried, gun fire following immediately after.  
“Crap! Crap! Crap!!” he squawked as a few bullets whizzed past him, striking the trees and rocks round him. “Sul! Hit the button!!!” Nathan practically yelled over his com as he quickly took cover behind an outcropping of stone.  
“I can’t, I think Chloe wired all the charges to blow at once!”  
“Fuck!” Nathan growled mentally kicking himself for having trusted Frazer again.  
Suddenly there was a solid thud right next to the brunette before he felt a gut wrenching presence behind him.  
“Relax,” came Cole’s whisper, making the brunette’s shoulders go lax instantly, “It’s just me.”  
“Any ideas?” Nathan asked looking over his shoulder at the conduit, the guards closing in with their guns trained and ready.  
“Mr. Sullivan, take cover,” Cole said over the com.  
“Roger that Sparky,” there was some shuffling, “Okay, do your thing.”  
“Stand close…and you might want to cover your ears,” Cole mildly warned before he clapped his hands together. Red sparks formed and looped around the blonde’s arms, expanding a force field like energy around them.  
Nathan gave him a trusting nod before he did as he advised, covering his ears with his palms. Cole then stepped out from behind the rock and gathered up two ‘sticky-grenades’ as he called them, and hurling them at the enemy. The perplexed men stopped in their tracks then the balls of white-hot lightning bounced toward them, adhering to their vests upon contact.  
A few seconds later they exploded, setting off two of the nearby C4 charges. The resulting flash was like looking into the sun for an hour, all condensed into only a split second. Nathan ducked back behind the rock face, Cole following and keeping his energy shield up as the chain reaction lit up the whole area with explosions. The ground shook and the blasts rang in both men’s ears even as the fiery heat engulfed them for a single moment that seemed to last forever.  
Nathan waited till everything went quiet and still before even opening his eyes. He could see the red protective aura still around him, and Cole was standing over him still braced against the rock protectively for danger. “Hey,” Nathan breathed, barley above a whisper, “I-it’s over.”  
Cole slowly opened one eye and looked around before he finally groaned and dropped the shield. He would’ve fell to the ground if Nathan hadn’t caught him and helped to hold him up right.  
“Take it easy big guy, ya did good,” Nathan cheered on, patting Cole’s shoulder.  
“Are you…hurt…?” Cole managed through his elevated breathing. Exuding so much power at once was always draining. He was exhausted but just glad to see the other shake his head in response to his question.  
“Come on now, let’s go before the Calvary shows up,” Nathan coached giving Cole’s shoulders a slight, encouraging shake.  
After being given an instant to gather his reserves, the conduit shook off the haze and followed the other’s lead. As they returned to the fork in the road that led up river, Sully was there, flashing them a smile, “Good! You boys are alright!”  
“Gonna take more than that with this one on our side,” Nathan boasted proudly, smiling at Cole. “We couldn’t have done this without you,” he added as he held up the journals to show to his comrades.  
“Where to now?” Sully asked as they continued up the trail, away from the chaos of the destroyed camp.  
Nathan opened one of the journals and started scanning each page for clues, “Hmm…” The text was in olden Spanish and unreadable to most, but Nathan knew it well. “It says that the dagger is here in Borneo…but not in this area.” He stopped and pointed to a block of text. Cole and Sully both craned in to look. “It says here that ‘Resting at the edge of great stones and hidden from sight from the sun’ and then these numbers here? It’s not a location. It’s a puzzle.”  
“So where’s the puzzle?” Cole asked, “Just looking at this is hurting my brain.”  
Nathan turned the page to a classical map of the whole island that had red markings on it, both in aged ink and in new ball point pen. “Here.” He said pointing to an area that was marked with nothing more than a small black ‘X’ that was underlined and labeled ‘Caves’.  
“It’s underground?” Sully asked.  
“Looks like it.”  
“Should we wait for your friend Chloe?”  
“Sully she is NOT my friend…and no. We’ve trusted her enough, and she blew her last chance.”  
“Literally,” Cole added.  
“Exactly! Thank you!” Nathan said as the group pressed onward.

\------------------------------------

Getting ahead of Lazaravich and his men was difficult to say the least. Nathan advised that Sully detour back to the hiker’s camp they had started at while he and Cole continued from there. In an attempt to back track and throw off any hunting parties, the pair ventured upward into the trees.  
Sure enough, a gaggle of men went running underneath them, calling to another group over their radios about ‘negative visuals’ and they were reporting back to camp. Cole sighed in relief and lowered himself back to the ground. Nathan followed shortly, sliding down a vine to lessen the noise he made upon landing.  
“Where to?”  
Nathan looked at the map, then looked up and round to find where the sun was, and then checked his watch. “This way,” he said pointing in the opposite direction of the guards. The duo traversed the jungle, going in the general direction of north east till they came to a rather wide river. The current was rapid, churning up waves or little whirlpools and it was rather deep making swimming across not an option. Nathan observed the map again and found that unless they wanted to hike another 20 miles to get around it, they would have to cross here. Just beyond where the current was marked was their destination. And sooner was better than later! “I can’t jump that…” Nathan groaned, “And the caves are just up ahead.  
“I can get us there…” Cole chided with a cocky smirk.  
“Haven’t you used up enough of your power? And we’re miles from any village that would have so much as a generator,” Nathan expressed, worried.  
“Nah,” the blonde assured popping his knuckles, “Attacks are what use up most of my energy, but transportation? Piece of cake. You’ll have to ride piggy back again though.”  
“I don’t care, as you know you can make it,” the treasure hunter said with a shrug as the conduit bend his knees slightly at the ready. With no hesitation this time, Nathan looped his arms around his partner’s neck from behind and lifted his leg up enough for Cole to hook his arm around it. With one lower limp secure, the brunette repeated the action with his opposite leg, Cole taking his weight up on his arms and back with no trouble.  
Taking a running start, Cole leapt into the air and his red powers ignited, pushing with enough force to hover over the rushing waters. “Whoa…”Nathan marveled to himself practically mesmerized as the current below reflected the light from the bolts of energy.  
The conduit landed smoothly on the opposite shore and lowered Nate’s feet to the ground. “Let’s go find your ‘next clue’ Indiana Jones,” Cole joked encouraging the man forward. Nathan just rolled his eyes with a chuckle, before the pressed on.  
A strange smell, something in the ball park of sulfur but more rancid, was light in the air around the mouth of the caves, and as the duo approached further, it got worse. Cole wrinkled his nose as the odor slightly stung the cilia in his nostrils, “Ick, what is that?” he asked.  
“Beats me…” Drake answered clicking on the flashlight on his hip. He looked on the ground and saw that other than some puddles, the cavern’s floor was free of standing water, “let’s find out shall we?”  
With a gulp Cole followed Nathan under the stone threshold and lower down a small flight of naturally stacked rocks. The ashen walls were dotted with moss and damp all over, making the traces of minerals sparkle when Drakes light hit them. The caved tightened for a few paces before it opened up again and Nathan could make out carvings and other signs that they had just entered a man made room. “Stupid light…” he groaned wishing he could see more.  
Cole drew his power into his hand and held it up like a torch, lighting the entire stone laden space. “What is this place?” he asked looking around with just as much amazement.  
“A shrine? Maybe?” Nathan said as they paced carefully toward another opening that led deeper into the mysterious structure. “Or it could’ve been a hiding spot for something.” Cole shined his own light into the next space, scanning it for any type of threat before entering.  
“For that dagger thing?”  
“I sure hope so,” Nathan said looking at the map again, but it offered no true baring for inside the caves. He flipped through the rest of the document but the only lead he could find was that whatever it was in here, it was in the middle.  
“Either way, I’m having a great time…” Cole teased before his slight elation was cut short by him tripping on something. “The fuck…” he swore looking down to see that his foot had clipped a bone. And not just any bone, a fucking HUMAN bone. “Looks like they didn’t fair too well,” he observed as his eyes followed a trail to the far wall where there a heap of old, worn corpses.  
“Well whatever or whoever wasted them did it hundreds of years ago,” Nathan said making an uneasy face. How the hell did they just miss a mass of dead men in the corner? And why was one of them holding an old box? “Hang on,” he said approaching the huddle and reaching out to take the box.  
“Carful…” Cole warned.  
“AAHH!!” Nathan screamed jolting forward but his yelp of fear quickly faded into giddy laughter when Cole jumped back and raised his other hand, ready to blast the dead thing into oblivion. “Hahaha!! Sorry I couldn’t help it!” Nathan managed through his laughter.  
“Ass…” Cole groaned gripping his chest as he regained his composure.  
Nathan continued to giggle to himself as he took the small wooden vessel and forced it open. His eyes lit up at its contents, “More resin.” He said shaking the small blue stones into his hand and discarding the box.  
“They look like tiny blast shards,” Cole said as Nathan stood and held them up for him to see.  
“I’ll find a torch and show you how they work,” the brunette explained eyes groping around the room before he spied what he was looking for. The wooden stake was worn, but the object was sturdy in Nathan’s grasp as he emptied a few of the stones into the metal, concave holder at the top. “You still have that lighter?”  
“Yea,” Cole reached into the small side pouch on his left leg and fished out the lighter while Nate stuffed the remaining resin into his own pocket for now. The blonde handed it to the explorer who nodded his thanks before striking it. He gently toughed the yellow-orange flame to the edge of the resin and it was engulfed in a bright blue flame, lighting up the room as if they had a large LTD light.  
“There,” Nathan said turning the torch from side to side, “It’ll safe you power too.”  
“Cool,” Cole said so tempted to tough the pretty glowing licks of fire. He let the light of his energy fade and allowed the brunette lead them on into the next room.  
“Holy crap…is this blood?” Nathan muttered, shining the torch down at the floor. The old stone was splattered and marked with a bright azure stain in splashes and hand prints that indicated whoever was at the force’s mercy was trying like hell to get away.  
“Looks like it…” Cole responded almost coldly. The patters formed by the dried blood brought back vivid memories of the Blast. “There’s so much of it…” he muttered remembering seeing blood all in the streets, people half dead and screaming, some dead and even in pieces around the destruction.  
“Hey, why are your eyes glowing?”  
“Huh?” Cole shook his head, snapping out of mini flashback.  
“Your eyes were glowing blue,” Nathan said, “Well, not anymore, but they were. Did you see something?”  
“I saw the Blast…again. The aftermath,” the conduit answered feeling a shutter go up his spine. He was hit with a sudden rush of emotions and his gut hurt so bad it felt like a punch in the stomach.  
Nathan noticed his friend looked like he was going to be ill, so the brunette explorer unhooked the canteen from the back of his belt and offered it to him, “Here, drink some water.”  
Cole nodded before taking the metal bottle, “Thanks.” He took a few small swigs before returning it. The liquid was lukewarm, but it seemed to calm his aching stomach.  
“You think this resin as some kind of effect on conduits?” Nathan asked curiously.  
“I’m not sure,” Cole said as they pressed on, following the neon blue trail. “I was fine before.”  
“Prolonged exposer?”  
“Maybe…”  
It was then they passed threw another stone breeze way did the trail end in another mass of bodies. All rotted to nothing but bones and clothing. But off the right was some kind of shrine with one body posed on it in a rather crude manner.  
“Sucks to be you…” Cole muttered as the duo approached.  
“No kidding,” Nathan added before he observed yet another box that was wrapped in the skeleton’s arms. It’s clothing suggested he was the captain of the doomed gaggle of unfortunate sailors. “Why would he be holding on to this, even while being pinned to a tribal shrine?”  
“Beats me,” Cole said cocking his brow, “maybe we should find out.”  
Nathan nodded with a smirk before he sat the torch down and went to gather the box. But it had set for so long that minerals had built up around where it made contact with the stone. The brunette attempted to pull it out, but when it would not budge, he looked to the blonde, “Help me pull this out.”  
The conduit nodded before he took hold of the other corner of the box. With their combined strength, it gave and they were able to pull it out. The box was much longer and made of thicker wood then the other vessel they uncovered, making Nathan hope that it was the dagger.  
“Moment of truth,” he said before Cole retracted his hands so Nathan could pop open the worn lock and open it. At first, it looked like another scroll, but as he gently eased his fingers under it, there was something solid wrapped in the paper. Removing it from the box, Nathan tossed it aside before unrolling the object from the wrapping.  
Cole picked up the torch and held it close as a pointed, stone pillar-like mass fell into Nathan’s hand. “Looks like a dagger to me…” he observed before he gave his friend an assuring smirk.  
The explorer’s eyes lit up and a smile grew on his face as he held the dagger and looked it over. It’s markings, the location, the matter in which they found it all made since. “This is it! We found it!” Nathan quipped, excited and jumpy all of a sudden. “We gotta get this out of here, find Sully, and get the hell out of this fucking jungle.”  
“You can say that again,” Cole agreed before the pair turned tail and started back the way they came.  
Finding the cave’s exit was quick and easy. Once back out into the green inferno, Nathan radioed to Sully that they were out and would be back at the camp soon.  
“Great job kid! I knew you could do it!” the man said over the com.  
“I had help,” Nathan said patting Cole on the shoulder as they trotted side by side.  
“I’ll get on out transport out of here then. See you boys soon.” Then the radio went quite.  
As they were coming up on the river again, Nathan already knew what to do as he let Cole job ahead of him a few paces before they sped up together. “Ready?” Cole called over his shoulder.  
“You know it!” Nathan replied watching as Cole’s powers sparked up and resting his hands on the other’s shoulders.  
Just as they neared the river’s edge, both leapt into the air and in perfect secession, Nathan secured himself by looping his arms around Cole’s neck while the conduit grabbed his legs and ferried them over the water. Without missing a beat, Nathan jumped off the other’s back as he landed himself and they bound off into the jungle, ready to tackle the next challenge head on!

 

TBC ~


	4. Friendlier Faces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summery: Armed with the Chitamani Dagger, Nathan and Cole make their next move to Nepal. Along the way, they run into a friendlier, more welcome face.
> 
> AN: Just as a quick note, I really do love Elena Fisher as a character and I think she’s the perfect women for Nathan. Given her attitude toward Chloe in Uncharted 2, I could totally see her getting along well with Cole and being a bit of pusher when she notices the conduit starting to get the hots for her ex. Yay for head cannons!! There is my reasoning and I’m sticking to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the long break in between these chapters! 2 jobs, personal life and moving all took up so much of my time. But now that im settled in and the new year is upon us, here's a new and much longer chapter!

Chapter 4: Friendlier Faces

 

The prop plan soared low along the water before it lifted higher, gaining speed, carrying the adventurous trio up and away from Borneo. Sully was at the controls while Nathan was busy trying to decipher the scroll that the ancient dagger was rolled in when they discovered it. Cole was at his side doing his best not to get a head ache as the brunette explained all the ends and outs of words in Latin and the older dialect of Spanish. It was all interesting to him, but it was still way over his head for the most part.  
“I think I got it!!” Nathan suddenly squawked making Cole jump slightly. “This isn’t a cave I’m looking at, it’s a temple! And these numbers are the location.” He took out his phone and fiddled with it for a moment, looking up the numbers on a map. “It’s in Nepal.”  
“Good thinking kid!” Sully called from the cockpit, “But there’s a million and one temples in Nepal, how do you know which one?”  
“It’ll have matching designs in the stone work, plus the location leads to one of the smaller cities,” Nathan folded the map and stowed it. “Let’s just hope Lazaravich hasn’t a clue yet.”  
The rest of the plane ride was full of discussion about further strategy of how to avoid detection by the Nepalese government as well as back up plans for if the outlaw warlord happened to make an appearance. However as they neared the island of Shri Lanka to refuel, Sully began vocalizing second thoughts. “I’m not getting any younger Nathan. I think I’ve gone as far as I can with this one.”  
“Sully…” the younger man tried to protest, but Victor held up his hand, shushing him.  
“You got Cole now,” he said sternly, “You two will do just fine on your own. I’ll stay in Shri Lanka for a while. Take the plane, and I’ll meet up with ya when it’s a bit safer.”  
When the small aircraft finally touched down on the local runway of a small airport, Sully made sure to give Nathan plenty of cash just in case they needed to grease a few palms while in the country. Then he turned his attention to Cole as they shook hands, “You take care of my boy, you hear?” he said with a mockingly intimidating tone, tightening his grip to prove his point.  
“Yes sir,” the conduit nodded with a chuckle. Even through the jest, he could tell the man was being 100 percent serious.  
With that Sully gave Nate one last hug before he slipped on his aviator sunglasses and paced away with his luggage.

\---------------------------

 

Nathan gently lighted the plan down along the rugged runway, guiding it to a stop along other prop planes at the site. As he and Cole exited the craft, a few Nepalese officers approached them, demanding their passports and such. When they began to question Cole’s, Nathan was quick to offer them a few high marked bills, allowing them passage on into the terminal and out into the public. From the airport, the duo made their way to the opposite side of the town before stopping at a local, low key bar.  
“The place we need to get to is here. Once I can get us a vehicle it’ll only take an hour or so to get there,” Nathan explain after the bartender brought them both a beer. “Then it’s all a matter of finding what secrets this temple holds.”  
“Another clue?” Cole asked as he took a sip of his brew.  
“If not the treasure itself. We’re so close! I can feel it!” the brunette exclaimed doing the same. “I’m hoping that bastard Flynn didn’t figure something out. Could be working off desperation in order to stay in Zoran’s good graces.”  
The conduit shrugged, taking another, bigger gulp of beer, “Nepal is a pretty random place. Seems unlikely.”  
“I hope you’re right.”  
They finished their drinks, paid, and left soon after, Drake pointing them to a local shop that had a bunch of different looking cars, jeeps, and trucks parked around it. Cole waited for the other as he disappeared into the small building, only to emerge a short time later with a set of keys between his fingers and a clever smirk on his face. “Let’s hit it.”  
Cole just chuckled as he followed the man to one of the roofless jeeps. “So did you just buy a car?” the blonde asked as they both hopped in.  
“Sort of,” Nathan shrugged as he started it up, “more like, took it off the guy’s hands. He said the transmission was close to being shot.”  
“Eh?” Cole cocked his brow, “We’ll be lucky to get this thing out of town let alone all the way to the next city.”  
“That’s where you come in,” Drake said hinting at Cole’s powers. “If you can drain objects, surly you can power them too?”  
“Well, I did power an entire train but it on electrical tracks…” the conduit said with a grimace.  
“Relax Sparks, I’ve thought this though,” the jeep roared to life and sputtered a bit, but stayed running as Drake shifted it into reverse and backed it out of the parking spot. The jeep’s engine popped in protest when Nathan shifted gear to drive, twitching the entire machine before smoothing out once driven onto a smoother road. The gas tank was only about a quarter of the way full, but it would see them through to the local gas station. He turned and gave the blonde that same cocky grin he had come to recognize as the explorer’s way of asking for trust.  
Cole sighed in defeat and just leant against the door, “Do I look like a fucking dragonfly to you?” he teased.  
“Kind of,” Nathan chuckled, “it’s mostly the glowing your eyes do when you’re pissed.”  
Both men laughed as the brunette pulled into the small gas station. He stopped next to the pump before jumping out to go pay.  
Cole made himself useful, getting out as well in order to remove the gas cap and unhook the nozzle. The machine made a light ‘ding’ sound letting the blonde know when to squeeze the trigger. Drake returned only a few moments later, thanking Cole for his help before assuming his position at the wheel. With a nod the conduit finished at the pump before replacing the nozzle and joining Nate in the jeep.  
With nearly full tank of gas, the duo where able to make the rest of the trip effortlessly. However, things seemed amiss as they neared their destination. There was black smoke bellowing from a few unknown areas, and as the jeep got closer, the pungent odor of burning gas stung their noses.  
“Oh no…” Nate’s voice steeped with fear as the pair passed the first few buildings. They were practically in ruins. With exposed iron pipes and busted water works sticking from the broken concrete, it showed that the destruction was recent. “This is not good,” the explorer’s tone was twisted with more and more worry. He slowed the jeep to a stop and idled for a moment.  
“Listen…” Cole said pointing skyward.  
Nathan cocked his head and did so, “Sounds like a chopper. A big one.”  
“Who would be flying that kind of aircraft? You don’t think..?”  
“We got no choice by to find out. Least if it is Zoran we’ll know what we’re dealing with.” Drake let off the breaks and slowly maneuvered the jeep as best he could through the shambled city. “I just hope the people living here got out of here in one piece.”  
“I’m sure they did,” Cole offered, “Place is devoid of civilians from the looks of it.” They drove further into the destruction before a gaggle of soldiers filed out in front of them. “Shit!” Cole swore as Drake slammed on the brakes and swerved to the side to avoid running the men over. The side swipe gave the conduit the perfect field of view and he didn’t hesitate in extending out his arms and lighting them up with a couple hundred thousand volts.  
Nathan righted the jeep and continued down the next stretch of road, “Nice one!”  
“Yea well they had it coming!” Cole replied, “That proves that the bastard beat us here!” The brunette pulled off to the side of the road and stopped, turning off the jeep. “We need to find a higher vantage point.” Both men hopped out before scoping the area.  
Cole looked up and his eyes followed the roofs before spying the high toped roof of a local inn. “That hotel looks promising.”  
“Let’s hope there’s an open room, with roof access, I like my skylines with a full 360 view.”  
Cole snorted, “With hot water and free wi-fi.”  
“And a swimming pool on the upper balcony,” the explorer added before both laughed and walked on. Their mild elations where cut short however; interrupted by shouting from behind them. “Let’s hurry!” Nate urged before breaking into a light sprint, Cole following on his heels till they were able to reach the main entrance of the hotel. “Crap! Locked,” Drake growled before whipping out his pistol and aiming at the lock, “Good thing I got the universal key.” He pulled the trigger, and a single shot rang out as it blasted off the padlock. He unwound the chines that were holding the entrance closed before he forced the entryway open and they were able to rush inside.  
The sound of thundering boots grew louder before fading away as the troops moved on to search another area. “Good, we lost them,” Nate sighed.  
“Think the elevator still works?” Cole asked pacing further into the building. The place was demolished with broken windows and hacked down walls. Wires were exposed and dangling from the ceiling and a decent about of the furniture had been damaged or completely destroyed. Why the hell was it even chained up, Christ sake?  
“Could you power it if it’s not?”  
The conduit eyed a sparking exposed cord before he snatched it out of the air and pulled the refreshing energy in threw his arm. “Can now,” he smirked as the cable sparked when he let it go.  
“Good, then once at the top, finding the temple will be cake,” Nathan said as they advanced on through the main lobby and down a tall, looming corridor. Carful to not step on broken shards of glass and boards with protruding nails that would pierce even the thickest working boot. The pair followed the hall till it narrowed and directed them left. Further down was the elevator, its doors slightly ajar. Not a good sign.  
“Crap,” Nathan spat as they neared. “Help me pry it open.” He said grabbing hold of one side. Cole nodded and took hold of the opposite side. “On three. One, two, Three!”  
With their combined strength, the men were able to yank open the stubborn entry open. The lift was jammed in-between floors, leaving only a few feet of wiggle room to get inside.  
“Back up,” Cole said cracking his knuckles, “this will take a…delicate touch.” When he was sure the brunette was out of range of stray sparks he focused his energy on the dead elevator. The ropes of azure lightning looped around the lift and up along the inner workings to get to the cables and wheels that allowed for movement. A loud screech stung their ears as the machine objected momentarily before reluctantly moving up enough to allow for the two to step inside. Cole’s face was fixed with an expression of concentration as he eased a steady line of power into the gears and metal lines.  
Nathan’s feet started to tingle and the sensation slowly worked its way up his spine, making his hair stand on end as if gathering static. Goosebumps speckled his arms but not once did the ropes of power shock or cause him discomfort.  
As they neared the top of the building, Cole could feel the lift getting heavier and heavier with each passing floor. His brow furrowed and mini beads of sweat began to form on his forehead. Nathan noticed this, “You can do it Cole,” he praised, “We’re almost there!”  
The confidence the brunette was exuding seemed to help and Cole grunted as he forced one more big surge of power through the elevator. It jerked before jolting up to the top floor.  
“It’ll drop if I let it, you go first!” Cole groaned starting to feel and look quite drained.  
Nathan hustled to pry open the doors and slip through before offering his hand to Cole. “On three! One, two,” The brunette then lunged and grabbed the blondes wrist, yanking him out of the lift.  
Once disconnected from its energy source, the elevator waned before dropping down the shaft with a deafening crash.  
“Hell yeah!” Nathan cheered patting the conduit on the back as he took a minute to regain his breath.  
“Couldn’t have done it without ya,” Cole answered back giving the other a gentle smile.  
“Sully was right, we DO make a great team!” Nathan chuckled as he glanced down the small corridor ahead. A section of the building had been destroyed, exposing the roof’s main pad. “Come on! Almost there!” he continued before pulling Cole’s wrist – that he had yet to release – along. Cole followed, letting Nathan hurry him along as they climbed over fallen beams and broken stone.  
The roof was clear of dangers, and allowed for quite the stunning view of the city. Well it would have been if not for the billows of smoke and distant gun fire. The pair approached the railing along the edge, Nathan already starting his scan the area for the temple. Producing his little sketch book from his back pocket he started flipping through the pages before pausing on one particular leaflet. “See this pattern here?” he asked pointing to what looked like an orb in the center of a star. The conduit nodded studying the little doodle closely. “The temple should have markings on it’s front above them gates.”  
Both men then began to scan the horizon, paying close attention to each temple’s etchings. Nathan used his binoculars to get a better look, and eventually spotted what he was searching for. “There,” he handed the enhanced spectacles to Cole and pointed to a tall stone steeple.  
The blonde looked through them and saw the matching markings above the door, but he also saw all the soldiers patrolling the place. “Of course it’s the one with the most guards…” he groaned giving the brunette his binoculars back.  
“We’ll just have to either lead them away or fight through them…” Nathan offered.  
“And what’s your plan for that?” Cole countered with a cocked brow.  
“Uhhh…I’m working in on it,” the brunette rolled his eyes, fitting the binoculars back into his pocket. He spotted a cable that led along to a lower roof at was a step in right direction. “That cable will get us closer,” He pulled his .22 caliber pistol from its holster, “I’ll go first.”  
Before Cole could even offer a piggy back ride, Nathan fitted the miniature firearm over the top of the cable before he leapt off the side. “Woohoo!” he elated loving the wind on his face and the weightlessness of zipping through the air. Timing it just right, Drake swung his legs to dismount, tucking and rolling safely onto the next roof. Turning, he waved to the conduit before stowing his pistol.  
“Wow…” Cole marveled impressed before he shimmied up the pole to perch on the top. Blue lightning formed and looped around the twisted metal rope as the blonde took a step forward, letting his feet glide smoothly down the line. The slope made him gather speed and with practiced precision, Cole leapt from the end of the cable, flipped in the air and stuck his landing with a heavy grunt. He stood, discharging his powers.  
Nathan took the lead, choosing the stick to the roofs since they were all wither connected or close enough to leap too if needed.  
Cole halted suddenly as he was helping the other up to a higher ledge, “The chopper!” He gasped before he went back to hurriedly pulling Nathan onto his level. No sooner was the man’s legs over the edge, the massive war bird lifted up over them, hovering menacingly with all weapons locked on.  
“Crap!” Drake growled before getting to his feet.  
“Run!” Cole said standing his ground, “Get to the temple! I’ll meet you there.”  
“I’m not leaving you!” Nathan protested, “We can do this!”  
“Nate! Please!” Cole pleaded, his throat suddenly locked up and he had to gulp down a strong lump, “I’m not going to lose you! Now go!”  
The look in the conduits eyes was almost piercing and his tone dripped with desperation. Without another word, Nathan nodded before he turned and ran. He didn’t look back, even as gun fire and Cole’s battle cry filled his ears. He urged his legs on, bolting between different forms of cover till he leapt over an ally way. He made the jump, but the exposed wood was weaker then it looked and it gave under his weight.  
“Ahhh!!” he squawked crashing into the ally with the fallen debris. He landed on his shoulder and the impact about took it out of its socket. “Aaarrgh!!” Nathan gasped, pain lighting up the entire side of his body that took the impact. ‘Come on get up!’ he screamed at himself ‘Get the fuck up!’  
Suddenly, there was presence at his side and an all too familiar voice broke through the ringing in his ears. “Nate?! Nathan?! Are you okay?!”  
“E-Elena?” the explorer croaked finally, still holding his bruising side as he looked upward. His blonde ex was kneeling next to him and behind her was another man who was shouldering a large camcorder. Still chasing that dream story it seemed. But here? In this war zone?  
“What the hell are you doing here?” Elena Fisher asked helping the brunette to his feet.  
“What else? Looking for treasure,” Nathan groaned rubbing his still throbbing shoulder.  
“Of course,” the journalist said rolling her eyes, “You haven’t changed.”  
“Uh, Elena, shouldn’t we get moving?” asked the man that was accompanying her.  
“Who are you?”  
“Nate, this is Garry. Garry, this is my ex Nathan Drake.”  
“Pleasure,” Nathan’s eyes shifted about awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his neck, at a loss for words.  
All three where snapped from their common pleasantries by a rather loud explosion that caused the earth to tremble blow their feet. Snapping metal and discharging bullets followed before a bellow of smoke flowed up from beyond the building Drake had just jumped and then fallen from.  
“You wouldn’t have anything to do with that…would you?” Elena asked cocking a knowing brow. Her mixed tone of anger and worry didn’t help either.  
“Well….sort of?” Nathan tried to explain before Cole landed in the ally way with an unannounced thud.  
Elena quickly drew her pistol and aimed it at him but Nathan quickly held up his hands, “Wait! Don’t!! He’s with me!” Then the brunette groaned and went to hold his injured side. Cole semi ignored the firearm pointed in his direction, more concerned with his hurt friend.  
“You alright?” he asked pacing up to the other and looking him over.  
“You know this guy Nate?” Elena asked.  
“Yes, we met in prison” Nathan finally explained letting the conduit carefully handle and examine the arm that had taken the brunt of his fall. “His name is Cole.”  
“Cole?” Elena instantly stowed her gun as she got a better look at the other. She’d seen him on TV when the Blast happened in Empire City. Hell she even had colleges that traveled there to do stories on it. They would speak in hushed tones about a conduit named Cole MacGrath that was rumored to have caused the whole thing, and even resorted to violence by using his powers to get his way. But the way he showed such concern for Nathan’s safety proved otherwise. Could it have just been slander and gossip? “Wait, he’s not THE Cole is he? Cole MacGrath? The man who survived the blast in Empire City?”  
The blonde conduit instantly gulped and looked away. But his silence gave Elena her answer.  
“Yes,” Nathan said, “he’s been helping me and Sully.” He narrowed his eyes in that way, trying to tell her to drop it.  
“That brings up more questions than answers, but I’m not here to follow whatever it is you are after this time,” the blonde woman said sharply turning to Gary. “We should get out of here, if we go around to the east, we’ll cut off Lazaravich before he leaves.”  
“Wait you’re here looking for that prick?” Nathan asked.  
“What’s it to you?” Elena fired back with a hand on her hip.  
“He’s the one we’re trying to get a head of, guess he’s quicker than we thought,” the brunette explained. “It doesn’t make any sense, Flynn wasn’t even pointed in the right direction. How’d he get here?”  
“Lazaravich has hands in a lot of places, anyone could be helping him,” Elena said, “Look I get the feeling we got a common goal here. We need to get video of Zoran, and you two need into that temple.”  
“No!” Nathan protested instantly, “Absolutely not! It’s not safe!”  
“You seem to be getting by just fine,” Elena snorted back, “By the skin of your teeth as usual!”  
Cole had backed up to stand next to Gary who had lowered his camera, “Is this…normal?” the conduit asked feeling a bit awkward.  
“Hell if I know…” the other man said as the pair continued to rant at each other for another moment or two.  
With a roll of his eyes, Cole finally lost his patience with the bickering and decided to step in, “Guys…?” No answer, “GUYS!!” He shouted, sending a bolt of lightning skyward to punctuate his interjection. Nathan and Elena finally snapped too and looked up, both with annoyed looks on their faces. “Sorry…now, I don‘t mean to get in between whatever history you two have, but time is a factor here and the more eyes and guns the better.”  
Elena took this as a victory while Drake’s shoulders drooped slightly, “I like him,” the woman chuckled making the older explorer just roll his eyes.  
“Fine…but I’m not responsible for anyone getting shot,” Nathan groaned.  
The group carried on from there in an awkward silence, taking a shortcut down an ally when Nate was positive he overheard the rumble of soldier boots.  
The rest of the trek seemed almost too easy as they came up on the small plaza that lay in front of the temple. Of course the ease of the journey ended there as the area was littered with heavily armed members of Lazaravich’s crew. ‘You gotta be kidding me…’ Drake thought to himself spying the man with the RPG launcher resting on his shoulder.  
“Okay” Elena started from their hiding place inside a hollowed building, “If we draw their attention, you think you can reach that roof Cole?”  
“Yes ma’am” the conduit nodded giving her a reassuring thumbs up.  
“Good! Then once you’re up there, you do whatever it is you do!”  
“He’s got this,” Nate added, giving Cole a reconfirming pat on the shoulder.  
“I’ll do my best,” Cole said before he carefully started to make his way up the side of one of the buildings.  
Once he was up over the ledge of the roof, Elena looked to Nathan and her camera man, “Gary, stay back and try to get some more shots of the soldiers. Nate, you and I can cause a distraction once Cole is in position.”  
“You got it Miss Fisher,” Gary agreed, propping the camera up onto his shoulder, keeping it at the ready.  
Elena gave him a self-assured smile before turning to the brunette explorer. “Hope you’re aim didn’t get rusty,” she teased as she drew her pistol again.  
Nathan just rolled his eyes, matching her confidence “Never had a chance to.”  
Meanwhile, Cole was just about to ease himself into position when he pondered just how outwardly accepting Elena was of him. Hell she even knew who and what he was, and yet had the upmost respect for his personal value. No wonder she and Nathan had been together at one point. As to what ended it? That was none of his business. He would let the other explain later if he wanted. For now, he had some destruction to cause.  
Taking one last leap, he made it onto the gable of the temple and worked his way up, crawling on his belly so as not to be spotted.  
“So how did you meet him?” Elena asked suddenly as her and Nathan slipped into a fresh hiding spot behind some wooden crates.  
“What?”  
“How did you meet Cole?” she repeated.  
“You’re asking me that now?” the brunette hissed slightly annoyed.  
“As good a time as any right?”  
“No, not really,” Drake peaked out from behind the crates, “But if you’re just dying to know, he was put into my cell while I was in prison in Turkey. Then I sort of, helped him bust out.”  
“You two broke out of prison together?!”  
“Yes, and then stole documents from Lazaravich, found what I think is the key to the next clue, and even took out the camp we infiltrated and now here we are,” Nathan rattled off just to get his ex to stop playing ’20 Questions’ with him.  
“Okay then,” Elena said, her curiosity sated for now, “well, I like him. He’s a good friend for you. You’re both driven, and little crazy.” She then spotted Cole on the front gable of the temple, “There he is.”  
“Then let’s go,” Nathan said clicking the safety off his gun and clacking it so a fresh bullet was in the chamber. He jumped out and took fast aim at the soldier that was closest to him and popped off a single round. It hit its mark, burying itself into the arm of the guard, making him cry out in pain before his friends noticed and began shooting.  
Cole grew nervous as Lazaravich’s men began to consolidate their fire into Nate and Elena’s position, but he waited and waited till he saw the RPG touting man raise his weapon and take aim as his friends. He felt an unexpected rush of anger as his mind flashed back to the Reapers crowding around Trish and Zeke while he was battling Sasha. “No,” he growled, “not this time…” The overwhelming emotions seemed to add to his powers as the energy flowed freely through his cells. He conjured up two sticky grenades as he stood atop the temple and gave a loud whistle. The shooting stopped as the soldiers all took their attention away from the other two, aiming their weapons up at the conduit.  
Cole only smirked before throwing the balls of explosive energy, not caring who or what they stuck to. Before any more shots could be fired the grenades went off, lighting up the whole area with white hot, blue-tinted electricity. For added measure, Cole charged up again and dove off the side. The last thing Lazaravich’s men saw was the blonde falling toward them like a hawk with bared talons, then nothing but deafening whiteness.  
When the light and dust cleared, Cole was standing alone amongst the rubble and dead bodies. Nathan cautiously glanced around his cover in time to see the conduit sway slightly before he dropped to his knees.  
“Cole!” Nathan shouted instantly running to the other.  
The blonde felt dizzy even resting on his knees and he would’ve keeled over completely off Nathan wasn’t at his side in a flash. Feeling the other’s arms around him and hearing his heartbeat in his ear as his head was allowed to rest against the other’s chest was so comforting. ‘He’s safe,’ he kept thinking over and over to himself.  
“You did good,” the explorer soothed gently, letting the conduit lean into him. “Can you stand?” he asked after a couple of moments.  
“Yea…” Cole eventually groaned as the other pulled him to his feet. “Used too much at once I guess…” he added with a slight grimace. Lifting his arm, a string of blue lightning sprouted from a nearby light post. It was nowhere near as much to recharge fully, but enough to keep Cole on his feet. Nathan only fully backed way when the blonde gave him a nod.  
"More will show up soon, we'd better hurry," Drake urged before leading the small group approached the entrance to the temple. The tall, aged doors were unlocked and gave at the slighted push, allowing for Nathan to push them both open with his shoulder.  
Before them was a small pool of water along with a double story statue overlooking it. It had six arms, four bearing a different object in its hands and two more cradling a sizable blue toned stone.  
"Is that what we are looking for?" Cole asked walking around the small pool to the base of the statue.  
Nathan opened his journal, flipping to the page that listed his notes on this structure. Looking up at the hands, the brunette saw that two needed to be adjusted. "Let's hope," he gulped before pointing up at the hand that held a totem of some kind, “The hands need to be turned.”  
Elena took a few notes in her own notebook before pacing up to stand next to Nathan, “How?”  
“Easy,” the brunette chuckled before looking over to the conduit, “Cole, you think you could move the hands without tiring yourself out?”  
Popping his knuckles, Cole backed up a few steps and looked up at the statue. “If I can move a full sized car, I think I can turn some oversized doorknobs.” He rubbed his hands together before fixating his powers around the four hands. “Which ones?”  
“The dagger needs to face down,” Nate instructed. The blonde nodded and tilted his hand, as he did, the metal appendage clutching the mini dagger turned with it till it was facing up and down.  
“The totem’s arm need to be pulled down.”  
“Got it.”  
After manipulating the proper rotations, Cole let go of his power’s grasp on the statue. There was a soft rumbling before the small pool below them drained itself of liquid and a slender stone panel lowered, revealing an opening. In this opening was a type of keyhole.  
“Lookie there,” Nathan said hopping down into the cleared bowl of rock. Cole took off his sling-strap bag and unzipped it, retrieving the Chintamani dagger and tossing it down to the explorer. “Here goes,” he gulped before easing the miniature pillar into the aperture. It was a perfect fit.  
Turning his wrist, the knob rotated left, clicked and then gave to turn in the opposing direction till there was a second click. Pushing forward, the inner section slid into the wall and another entrance appeared at the base of the statue.  
“Bingo!” Nathan elated clamoring out of the pool and looking down into pitch black. The bad news, was that along the bottom, he spotted standing water, making Nate’s cheerfulness switch to worry, “Looks flooded though.” He made a slight grimace in Cole’s direction as if to apologize for nature.  
“So?” Elena asked.  
“You catch yourself standing in the same puddle as me and you’ll also catch ten thousand volts,” Cole explained, “Plus it hurts.” The conduit shivered at a memory about of falling into one of the fountains in the Historic District when his foot slipped on the side when he was outrunning a gaggle of Reapers.  
“So not only can you conger lighting and blow up things, you are literally conductive to water?” the younger blonde asked  
“Yes,” Cole answered shortly before pacing back around the emptied pool to stand by the door. “I’ll watch the door.”  
Nathan didn’t like the idea of venturing into the cavern alone, and since Cole could go, he looked at Elena, “I’ll still need an extra pair of hands.”  
The woman smirked, “Oh so now I’m second choice?” she teased with a giggle.  
“To the one who busted me out of prison, yea,” the treasure hunter fired back matching her cocky grin with his own.  
“Fair enough,” Elena sighed before hopping down to join her ex. Nathan flipped on his flashlight before taking the first few steps into the cavern. The water sloshed slightly, coming up half way to the pair’s knees as they cautiously trekked down the dark hall. When she was sure they were out of earshot of both Gary and Cole, Elena asked, “So are you and Cole… ya know..?” It was so sudden and out there that Nate stopped dead in his tracks and spun around.  
“Wha…? No! We’re just friends,” he could feel his face heat up with embarrassment.  
“Just wondering, he just seemed so concerned about you and you didn’t seem to mind him invading your personal space,” Elena head up her hands.  
“We’ve been helping each other since we broke out of prison, and yea I do care about him, but no we aren’t ‘ya know’” Nathan explained putting air quotes around the end of his statement.  
“Shame…” the journalist said simply before pressing on past him, making him roll his eyes.  
The hall eventually opened into a larger breezeway, the standing water still present, before Nate and Elena entered a rounded area with what looked to be a stone table surrounded by pillars of pointed crystals. Along the walls were runes and symbols plated in copper or silver. One the far side of the surface was what looked like another keyhole for the Chitamani dagger. Nathan took it from his pouch as they approached.  
“I wish I gotten the camera from Gary,” Elena marveled watching as the explorer lowered the dagger into the opening.  
“Record with your eyes,” Drake said before he slowly turned the knob till there was a click, then rotated it back again. Another click before the table before them lit up and move in a flowing motions, mimicking liquid before stacking up on itself. Both explorers watched in amazement as the aquatic-like stone formed what looked to be a mountain range.  
A beam of blue light sprouted from a single spot along the inner face of one of the formations, resembling an ‘X’ on a map. The brunette quickly took out his mini sketchbook and began to rapidly write everything down. “This range,” he said while doing so, “It’s the Alps.” Nibbling the top of his pencil he pondered what this meant, “the mountains, that’s where we need to go.”  
There was a rumble overhead followed by a much louder booming sound. Sounded like the door was being attacked, signaling that they should probably leave. Nathan removed the dagger from its place making the image before them crack before fizzle away back into the slab of stone.  
Upon reaching the surface again, they saw that the door to the temple had indeed been breached, and Cole was holding the metal locks closed as a folly of bullets pattered the other side with Gary standing to his right ready to shoot at the encroaching soldiers with a shaky hand.  
“Cole!” Nathan called “Got what needed. Time to go.”  
“Gary, come on!” Elena shouted, causing the camera man fall back.  
Cole held his position, “There’s a broken window up there!”  
Nathan looked up, his eyes finding the said window and a climbing route to get up there. The two reporters followed his lead in scaling the wall and platforms to reaching said window. The brunette kicked out the remaining stained glass before hustling Elena and Gary through first. Once they were out and safe, he turned to Cole, “Come on Sparks! We’re home free!”  
Taking a breath, Cole disengaged his hold on the door before making a break for the exit. Scrambling up onto the last platform, Nathan held out his hand for the other, taking it firmly. Pulling with all his might, the brunette hoisted his friend up before helping him through the window as well.  
The doors suddenly burst open and the temple flooded with fully armed soldiers, but by then, they were met with just an empty room.


End file.
